The Fire Prince and the Begger Boy
by Pandora Finesilver
Summary: When a young begger tracks down the banished Prince of the Fire Nation, accusations fly and heartstrings are pulled. The mystery continues to grow when the childs weakness and affinity for fire become apparent, as well as his growing bond with the prickly prince. Shenanigans ensue as Zuko is forced to choose between persuing the Avatar and looking after his newfound brother. . .
1. Long Stories

The kid wasn't much to look at. He was scrawny, clumsy, silent, and intimidated by practically everything. And Zuko was taking him on his journey.

. . . .it's a long story.

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Booner sang clearly, sitting on a street corner, battered hat held out for coins. Every now and then, he'd hear the faint clinks and jingles of another coin being added to the rest. He didn't know how much he had. That didn't matter. Not right now.

You're sick, he told himself, even as another coin was tossed into his hat. You're injuries are probably infected and you have a fever. You need to get out of the sun. That'll make it worse. You need to find a healer.

Then the teenager walked by. Well. . . rode by. It wasn't the sound of the ostrich-horse's feet in the dirt road. Nor was it the unusual sounds the creature made. It was the feel of heat and clarity that caught him so off guard.

Since he'd been blinded not even two weeks before, the young Earth Kingdom boy felt like he'd been drowning in a black, endless sea. Weighed down by guilt and confusion. Constantly smashing and stumbling and tripping into things and people. And more recently, feeling the chills of fever in the warm sunlight.

But this person was as like a beacon to him as a lost ship at sea. Passing by, the heat that surrounded the teenager reminded him of his sister. Protection, brotherhood, understanding. Family. Things he'd learned to expect and relish from only one other person. . . .but no. She couldn't be here.

Ri is dead. . .

His song faltered a moment. He coughed quickly, briefly, and kept singing. He wasn't sure what he'd felt. It could've been just a passing wave of heat from his sickness. It didn't matter, in the end. But he knew he couldn't just give up. He'd been taught a long time to hold his ground and hold steady, despite any and all odds.

Mountains never fall. He repeated his mantra, despite the twinge of pain within his heart, the phantom ache of bruised ribs. They're battered and beaten down at times, but they never move, never falter, never fall. . . .and never, EVER give up.

He sighed softly to himself, willing away tears of pain and heartache. He wouldn't cry. Not here. Not now.

The teenager who he thought held warmth and safety was already leaving. Already gone. The clarity and light in the sunless, moonless, stormy sea swallowed up. As if it'd never been there. Leaving fever chills and the sounds of feet and voices for him to try to reconstruct the world he once knew.

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No where was safe. No where. Didn't matter which way he turned, the earth trembled beneath his feet and flung him to the ground, jarring his ribs and knocking the breath out of him.

. . .why can't . . . can't they . . . he flattened himself to the ground, thinking he heard a chunk of rock whistle behind him. Just leave me alo-?! The ground he was on trembled and he was thrown several feet, leaving him wheezing and barely conscious. He lay limp, trying to gather his wits and strength, but unable too.

He felt another tremble of earth, and tried to scramble to his feet before a wave of pain smacked into him, dragging him down again. But nothing came. Cautiously, he rolled onto his side after gathering his thoughts. He immediately regretted that action as his sides rippled with sharp pain, stealing his breath and chasing away his thoughts.

When the pain subsided, he could make out sounds of a fight. There was rock hitting rock, and rock hitting metal. Shouldn't be near . . . he thinks, struggling to rise. Gotta get . . .urk! a wave of heat and anger coupled with pain brought him back to the ground. Something in his belly flickered, responding to the sudden warmth, but he squashed it down and shoved it back.

The teenager was back again. Booner could sense him, vaguely. Sense which direction they were going, the comforting warmth that radiated from them. He had no idea what he was doing here. His thoughts were geared more towards trying to get up and run before the earthbenders had a go at him again. But he did recognize something.

He saved me. . . he had . . . no cause . . .SAVED me. . . from the monsters . . . .

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It wasn't. . . . and yet WAS as hard as he'd thought it would be. Yet, here he was. Not-so-silently tracking down - stalking - the teenager.

He winced whenever he stepped on the numerous small, sharp rocks. Yelped quietly when he nearly lost his balance and fell when attempting to climb a bit of small - he thought it was, at least - cliff. He had nothing to go on but a faint trace of heat, somewhere out there. It was the teenager. He had no idea how near or far it was. Just that it was faint, and growing fainter the farther he seemed to go.

Or maybe I'm just exhausted . . . I should've bought some stale bread or something, he thinks grimly to himself, shivering in the night wind as he paused, trying to get his bearings. He'd been walking for miles now, across grassland and dirt and rock. He wasn't sure how he was able to track anything like he was. He wasn't following a trail. He simply went in the direction the comforting warmth seemed strongest.

Hours later, he was footsore, completely exhausted, and about ready to collapse. Another blow to the mountain . . . I will not fall! I am STRONG, he chanted his mantra, steeled himself, and kept marching, moving by pure force of will. One tired step after another.

He heard the crackling of a fire a few minutes later. He slowed, carefully easing his way forward. That warm, safe presence was back, stronger than earlier. Somewhere around here . . . just around this bit of ravine, perhaps? Or . . . wherever he was? He reached out carefully with his feet. Hitting a large rock, he tried to feel up to a spot he could climb over. Instead, he worked his way around the boulder he'd bumped into.

"Hey! Who's there?" he heard a voice call, near the louder and ever-present crackle of flames.

Booner froze, then eased his stance into a more defensive position. Footsteps. Coming closer. Stopping a few paces from him, his left. Turning slowly, he looked in the persons general direction.

"Who are you?" the person - male, young, not sure how young - asked warily. Suspiciously.

He's afraid of something . . . but what? Booner shook himself mentally, said nothing, and shrugged.

"Who. Are. You?" the person asked more forcibly.

". . . .Booner . . . ." he said softly. Soft as the wind, and twice as broken.

"Speak up!" the person demanded impatiently. A crunch of gravel, coming towards him. But no more than one loud crunch.

He's advancing on me . . . what should I do? Booner thought frantically. Fleeing was hardly an option. With his luck, he'd trip and fall into a ditch or something equally painful. And he simply couldn't run away. I am like a mountain . . . strong . . . unwavering . . . he nearly started swaying from fatigue, but quickly covered with a slight change in stance.

" . . . kid's an earthbender . . ." he heard the person mutter to himself.

I'm a bender . . . just not the kind you're thinking of. . ., Booner tensed slightly, listening carefully. Whatever this guy did next, he wanted to dodge any attack and run. This was stupid . . . I should've waited and saved my coins for the healer. A chill wracked his frame once more, worse than previous ones, and he couldn't help but shiver.

"Where are your parents?" the person asked gruffly.

Booner paused, ready to bolt. No one else had asked him that . . . could he trust this guy? No, no . . . don't give anything away. Don't tell the truth . . ., Rather than speak, he just shrugged and hung his head, dropping his stance and trying to look absolutely miserable. It wasn't that hard. He'd been feeling miserable for days.

The person sighed but said nothing, walking back towards the fire. A long pause, in which Booner slowly straightened himself so he was standing upright again. He wrapped his arms around his torso carefully, trying to hold back his shivers.

"Well, are you coming or not?" the person demanded impatiently.

Booner flinched out of reflex, then nodded slowly, and edged closer to the fire and the stranger. He felt drawn to the flames. He wanted to reach out into its warmth, and draw it onto himself, warm his chilled form and - NO!, he nearly shouted aloud, stopping just short of the flames and backing away quickly. No, no, no NO. Not here. Not now. Not in front of another person . . .,

He took a deep breath and let it out, slowly sinking to the ground. He couldn't hide his wince when he finally settled himself. He breathed slowly, in and out, - Ride out the pain. Mountains can take this. I am a mountain, too, - in and out, settling himself carefully before turning his face towards the stranger. He kept his head tilted down just enough so that both bangs and his sedge hat hid his eyes. Hopefully, at least.

". . .my name is Lee. What is yours?" Lee asked. The politeness sounded a little too forced.

". . .Booner." he managed to speak up a little more, and make it sound less broken. A little lost and confused, but not quite broken. He hoped.

"Okay, Booner. Where are your parents?" Lee followed up quickly.

Booner turned his head to the side, pushing away memories of Before. ". . . .my family can't help me. Not now. . . ." he choked out, tears lacing his voice and tightening his throat. It didn't help much that earlier today he'd been singing Their song. The one They'd been working on together before . . . IT happened.

". . . tough luck, kid." the person finally replied. ". . .I'll get you to the road that leads back towards the village nearby tomorrow."

Booner nodded to show he'd heard, and scooted a little closer to the boulder - away from the fire - trying and failing to bite down a whimper as he jostled an injury. He shivered again, and let out a half-ragged breath as he curled up carefully on his side, back to the fire.

Tomorrow . . . .tomorrow, I'll be all alone again . . . .but that warmth earlier . . . .it's back, but I don't know what it means . . . ., It was a long time before he settled his jumbled thoughts enough to even think of rest, despite his exhaution. It was hard with the fire so near. He kept fighting the urge to sit up and reach out to it and let its warmth ease his fears and pains. To gaze at it until it was nothing but embers. . . .then build it back up again and repeat the process.

It was hard not too. He longed for the heat, the flames. The smell of smoke and hot glow of embers. But he couldn't have it. Never again.

Never again . . . . never again, forever again. . . .no fires to bake or cook. . . ., his thoughts drifted dazedly before he fell into an uneasy, fevered sleep.

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Zuko didn't fall asleep right away. He laid down on his blanket roll and watched the unexpected visitor shiver and curl away from the fire. It was the beggar-boy he'd seen when he had passed through the nearby village just the other day.

It could hardly be a coincidence that the same boy had somehow found his campsite just after he'd shown the people of that town who he truly was. He'd left the road far behind himself once he'd put some distance between them and him, before risking a fire, let alone bedding down for the night.

And the kids stance . . . he had to be an Earthbender. He seemed grounded to the earth. . . .but he's just a kid, Zuko grimaces. The Avatar was 'just a kid', and his whole little band of friends were still, technically, 'kids'. Underestimating one's strength or skill based solely on age hadn't helped him before. It wouldn't help him now. But this boy. He raised himself off the ground slightly and looked back over at him.

Clothes nearly torn to rags, filthy, scrawny. Pale, timid, homeless, and orphaned. Whatever had happened, Zuko suspected it had happened more recently. Through many tears in the boys shirt, he could see fading bruises. And the way he moved cautiously as he laid down only further confirmed that he was injured. And by this point, he had every reason to believe that the boy was blind.

He looked my way, but didn't look at me. And not to long ago, when I gestured for him to follow me, he didn't notice it . . . and then he nearly walked right into the flames. Jumped back pretty quick, but still . . .

The kid, - Booner, he reminded himself - shifted slightly in his sleep, mumbling quietly. He waited, but the boy settled again, curled into a tighter ball. His movements knocked his hat askew. A shiver passed through him and he curled up tighter.

Zuko frowns, considering. It's not that cold . . . why didn't he move closer to the fire if he were cold before? Slowly, quietly, he stands and moves closer to the beggar boy. Crouching next to him, he slowly reached out and picked up the sedge hat. Cloth; once green, was now crusty with brown and red. It was wrapped all the way around his head and face, keeping the makeshift bandages tight over his eyes, only half-hidden by dark, filthy bangs.

Freezing, Zuko stared. This wasn't quite what he'd been expecting. Booner moaned and covered his head and face with one arm, curling in on himself again, shivering. Zuko shook himself of his shock. This is what war does, he tried to remind himself. War doesn't care if children get hurt in the process,

He glanced at his pack, then back to Booner. He sighed, set the hat aside, and lightly brushed the boys hair aside, feeling his forehead. "He has a fever. . . ." his eyes went back to the bandages. There was a lot of dried blood on the bandages over his eyes, and it looked old. He'd say about a week or two, at most. And if he hadn't gotten any medicine, or even changed the bandages and cleaned the wound, Booner ran a high risk of his injury getting infected.

He eyed his pack again. Can't just leave the kid out here. . . . but would he even survive the trip to another town? He looked back down at the boy. Face in the shadows and dim light cast by the fire, Booner looked small, weak. Vulnerable. . . .

Shaking his head, Zuko stood and went to his pack. Pulling out his waterpouch, he considered how little water he had for just himself. He shook his head and went back to Booner, crouching next to his head. He nudged at him, trying to get the kid awake. Booner just curled into a tighter ball, whimpering in his sleep. Sitting back on his haunches, Zuko struggled to keep his temper under control and think.

"He needs a healer . . . and I'm not Uncle. . ." he glanced at the ostrich-horse, grazing idly nearby. He sighed. It was a longshot indeed, but his only viable option at the moment. He'd have been headed for another village anyway, the kid or no.

Packing away his gear and loading it onto the ostrich-horse, he quickly scooped up the boy. Booner shifted slightly in his grasp, but didn't wake. All the better, for now, Zuko carefully set the kid on the ostrich-horses back, and wrapped his blanket around him, then put out the campfire before climbing up himself. I don't need him chucking rocks at me in a blind panic.

He set off for the road, and urged his mount as quickly as he dared in the dark. He pulled the kid closer when Booner started to slip off. The child's only reaction was to shiver and curl into the blanket slightly, moaning softly.

I hope I won't end up regretting this. . .


	2. Shadow-Stretching Roads

Nearing the end of the second days' travel, Zuko finally saw forestland in the distance. _And hopefully, a town nearby._ Since meeting the kid, Booner quickly proved both timid and mute when he was awake.

As they pushed on through the evening, the kid stirred in front of him. When Zuko thought for sure he was actually awake, and not just shifting in his sleep, he said quietly, "Hey, Booner."

The child started, and would've fallen off the ostrich-horse had Zuko not grabbed ahold of him. "Whoa there! Hold still." he ordered gruffly.

Booner remained silent, but obediently held still. He carefully felt forward and wrapped his arms carefully around the ostrich-horses' neck, cautious not to touch the firebender behind him.

 _He doesn't know that I'm a firebender,_ Zuko reminded himself as he loosened his hold and looked back at the forest in the distance. _He's just blind, and scared. Hopefully, there'll be water nearby once we get to that forest. Shelter, at the very least, from the sun._

The boy shifted slightly, a barely audible hiss apparent as he wrapped an arm around his chest. The hissing died away, and Booner kept his silence, stiff in the saddle.

"Are you awake enough to drink some water?" the boy nodded once, sharply, and Zuko handed him the waterpouch.

The boy carefully let go of the ostrich-horse and fumbled to open it. He would've fallen off had Zuko not grabbed his shoulder. The boy froze for a long moment, then took a small drink and capped the pouch. He slung it over his head by the strap and grasped at the ostrich-horse again.

Their shadows stretched out longer and longer as the sun sank beneath the horizon. When it was almost completely dark, Zuko slid off the ostrich-horse and led it onward in the darkness. The kid said nothing, and didn't move. It was difficult to judge his expression, but he seemed apprehensive.

They finally made it to the treeline as the moon rose. The path remained straight, and the moon provided enough light to see by, so Zuko kept moving. Pushing past exhaustion, he kept putting one foot in front of the other, despite how his vision wavered. . . .

Zuko started at the light tap on his shoulder. He turned and looked down in surprise at the boy, now clinging to the reigns, standing before the exiled Fire Prince. The child jerked his head towards the side of the road, towards the woods. His meaning was clear: _We should both sleep._

Zuko nodded once. "We should make camp for the night." he agreed.

Booner nodded sharply, but gripped Zuko's sleeve and tugged him lightly towards the ostrich-horses back. His other hand gripped the reigns.

"Can you even see?" Zuko asked, then almost immediately wished he hadn't; Booner didn't know he had seen the bandages yet. "I only mean, it's pretty dark out." he tried to cover awkwardly.

Booner's expression was stony, but he only nodded once. He waited until Zuko climbed up on top of the ostrich-horse, and then lead it into the woods. The swaying motion of the animal he was riding made it hard to keep his eyes open, even though the Fire Prince struggled against sleep.

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Sunlight poked at his eyes. He struggled to stay asleep for a moment, then gave up, opening his eyes and sitting upright. He blinked. It wasn't exactly a clearing. More of a small patch of clear space between trees and bushes next to a trickle of water.

Booner was curled up against the ostrich-horse a few feet away from him, shivering slightly in the shade. He'd taken the blanket and draped it over Zuko sometime last night. His pack was leaned against his legs, and the waterpouch as well.

Zuko took the waterpouch and moved to the stream, glad to have some fresh water at last. He cupped the cool water in his hands, and drank it down greedily before he moved to fill the waterpouch.

He glanced over at the kid again. He was pale and shivering in the shade, drawn into a careful ball against the ostrich-horses side. Even asleep, he looked like he was hurting, which was more than when he looked awake.

Standing, he walked over to the child and crouched before him, gently shaking his shoulder. "Kid, er, Booner. Wake up." the boy did not respond. Zuko grimaced slightly, fingers just brushing the childs forehead. _Dammit, the fever's getting worse._ And not having enough water or any medicine over the last few days probably didn't help with that.

He roughly positioned the boy until he was sitting up a bit against the ostrich-horses back, and prodded the top of the waterpouch against the boys mouth. Nothing. The boy remained unconscious, and still. Grumbling, Zuko stuffed blanket and waterpouch into his bag, picking both it and boy up.

He got the ostrich-horse up to standing, and placed both burdens on it's back. He followed their trail back the way they came to the road, and from there he mounted up and pushed the ostrich-horse to a gallop. He kept a grip on the boy, making sure he wouldn't fall off.

"You'd better not die on me." Zuko muttered.

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It was just past sunset when she heard the heavy knock at the door. Sighing, the brown haired and eyed woman left the kitchen and opened the front door. _If this is Ping coming just to bother me again,_ she groused to herself, _I'm going to kick his tail all the way to the North Pole._ Instead of the elderly man she'd expected, the teenager who stood in her doorway was a complete stranger.

He had a scar, most likely from a fireblast, marring his face, black hair, and looked quite travelworn and underfed. He was leading an ostrich-horse, and the child on it immediately caught her attention. Pale, sweaty, bloody bandages wrapped around his face, clothes torn and shivering.

"Oh my! Come in, come in." she gestured toward the door as she moved to lift the child from the ostrich-horses' back. She may've been short and stout, but she was strong. "I'm Malla. How'd this happen to him?" she asked, closing the door behind the teen.

He looked tired, and hungry, but looked back at her. "Not sure." he replies. "Found him this way."

Malla tutted to herself, laying the child down and examining him. "I'd say he got into a bad scuffle with some earthbender, by his condition." she moved to get some clean bandages and a pot of hot water. "Is he your brother?" She watched the teen out of the corner of her eyes as she gently loosened and removed the bloodied bandages.

He'd leaned himself against a wall, watching her work, arms crossed. He nodded once, looking away. ". . . yes. He is." he replied quietly.

Removing the bandages entirely and throwing them away, she gently cleaned the bad wound. _Infected. And he's running a fever. How long has this boy gone without treatment?_

Malla quickly sorted through her store of herbs, gathering ones to help with infection and fever. She worked carefully, trying to see if the boy would ever regain his sight. _If this boy was attacked by an earthbender,_ she grimaced, _then they must've slashed at his eyes with a bunch of gravel._ The boys eyes had been mangled, and she doubted that he would ever see properly again.

She carefully dressed the wound and wrapped a fresh bandage around the boys eyes before gently removing his outer layers. They were torn up enough not to be worth fixing, anyway. She gently felt the boys chest, feeling for broken ribs. _Hm, I think they're merely bruised._ she thought, turning to look at his brother. _I wonder what happened. He's a traveler, and claims he found the boy in this condition._ The two honestly did look similar.

Paler skin tones, more angled faces. She met golden eyes with her brown and raised her brows. Her gaze drifted to his scar, and her eyes widened as realization set in.

 _They must be from the colonies. . .something clearly went wrong, how did-?_

". . .what?" the teen demanded edgily.

Malla shook herself and turned back to her work for a moment, straightening bundles of herbs and pots. "Oh, nothing. Golden eyes are just an unusual sight, is all. Do you know what happened to your brother?" she asks. _They're_ Fire Nation _, but this boy was struck by one of his own. And his brother. . . .he's just a child!_

"No. He disappeared awhile ago. Me and Uncle split up to search for him." the teen replied tersely.

 _Him and_ Uncle _. . .at least they has someone older to turn to. All three must've been traveling together for quite some time._ She looks back at the teen as mulled this over. "Mmhmm. Well, I can clearly see that you're exhausted. As a healer, I'm ordering you to bed for the night."

The teen flinched away from her and struggled in her grasp when she grabbed his wrist. "Hey!"

"Calm yourself. Exhausted, hungry, and clearly worrying for some time. You need food and rest." she told him sternly. "Do not worry. Your brother will be fine." she assured him.

"But I-!" he protested.

"Shush now!" she reprimanded him gently. "I will not be asking you to pay for food, rent, and healing." she kept her relief hidden when he stopped struggling and allowed himself to be led to a long, darkened room with a long row of beds pressed against one wall. A lantern was lit at intervals along the wall, but dampened down. "I can see you've been through a lot, as well as your brother. Rest now. We can talk in the morning."

The teenager nodded, and moved toward the bed. Malla said a quiet good night and closed the door behind her. She went back to the boy and carefully examined him, but could find no other injuries. Gently, she scooped him up and carried him into the same room she'd led the teen, and tucked him into a bed as well.

She glanced at the teen as she left, but he was already asleep, breathing even. _I'll check on the boy in an hour,_ she thought, closing the door carefully. _His fever is not dangerous, but I cannot have it getting even worse._ Malla sighed, moving toward the back, and storage. _I just wonder why two kids from the Fire Nation colonies are doing so far inland._


	3. Brothers in Arms

Zuko awoke much later that night. He bolted upright, ready to defend himself-

The stout healer-woman grabbed his hand and eyed him reproachfully. "Sh, don't wake your brother." she reprimanded softly. "You're safe, and so is he. The fever has broken." she let go of his hand, and turned back to the bed next to his.

 _What is she . . . Booner?_ Zuko lowered his hands, and turned. The boy was lying on the other bed, wrapped in blankets, a cool, damp cloth on his forehead. He looked much better than he had just a littler earlier that night.

"What? So surprised that a complete and total stranger would offer such kindness to a hurting family?" the woman asked.

Zuko opened his mouth to bark out an answer, but stopped when he realized she was smiling kindly at him. He looked away and instead replied, "No, I didn't."

"Well, that isn't right." he looked back at her, caught her frown in the gloom. "Two boys such as yourselves, well," she glanced at Booner. "I can see that you've both been hurting. You need someone to help ya' along. And for someone to go after a _kid_ like this. That isn't right. It's disgusting."

Zuko said nothing. He wasn't sure how to respond to this.

The woman looked back at him, and apparently saw something in his posture. Her disgusted, angered look faded, and she lightly patted his arm. He tried not to flinch.

"Just rest. Your brother will be fine; the worst is over. The best you can do for him now is rest, and gather your strength again." she stood, and picked up a lantern. She smiled at him. "Both of you will get treated to a good, home-cooked meal in the morning." she promised, leaving the room.

Zuko laid back down, exhaustion still tugging at his mind.

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Booner said nothing as the kindly woman lead him through her house, dressed in new, clean clothes. He couldn't see, but he did feel much better than he had before. The constant press of fever-heat had lessened, his clothes and hair and body were clean. The only heat he could feel internally now was in his belly, but he did his best to ignore it. Externally, he could sense the warmth of the teenager that had rescued him.

 _So it wasn't just my mind playing tricks_ , he thought, quietly and quickly eating the bowl of soup the nice woman had set before him. _He really_ did _save me. But why can I feel him? How? And how was I able to track him-?_

"I'll go get your brother up for some breakfast. He's slept in long enough." the nice woman told him, cutting through his thoughts.

Booner nodded once, listening as her footsteps left the room and grew fainter, his heart pounding. If his brothers had managed to track him down, then he needed to be ready to run.

When the woman returned, however, with the teen. He could feel eyes on him, but didn't give any indication of it. He just kept eating his food, glad for the warmth. The teen moved to sit across from him, and from the sound of it, was starting to scarf down food as quick as he was himself.

A scrape of wood on stone, to his left, and then he heard the nice womans' voice, "I never did catch your name, young man, or your brothers. My name is Malla."

 _He has a brother?_ Booner contemplates this a moment, listening carefully. _I don't think there's anyone else in here._

"My name is Lee," the teen replied. "My brothers name is Booner."

 _I am_ what _?_ Booner struggled to keep surprise off his face.

"It's nice to meet you two formally, at last," Malla says cheerfully. "As I understood it yesterday evening, you were going to meet with you uncle after finding your brother."

Lee cleared his throat slightly, then said. "Yes. That was the plan. But uh . . ."

". . .you didn't expect that his kidnappers would've injured him." Malla supplies gently, guessing.

"Yeah, pretty much." Lee is quick to jump on this. "But we need to get moving soon. Otherwise Uncle will think I was captured too, or hurt."

"Why would anyone want to capture your brother, though? If you know, I can inform the local Town Guards and they'll be on the lookout for them." Malla asks, hopeful.

Lee hesitates a long moment.

". . .it's because I look to much like the Fire Nation." Booner said softly. _Lightly now . . . lightly. Give bits, and let her draw the picture for herself._

"Well, you both look like Fire Nation," Malla starts.

Booner tenses, and he can feel the warmth emanating across the table from him lessen. . . .as if Lee were trying to hide. _How do I . . ?_

"But I've learned not to judge based on appearances." Malla finishes. "I can see that the Fire Nation hurt you, a few years back. And because of judging based on looks, your brother got hurt. I'm not going to follow along and hurt you, too."

He could practically feel the smile in her voice. The warmth returned back to it's previous strength. ". . .thank you . . ." he says softly, shyly.

"Yes, thanks." Lee says gruffly.

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"We'll make camp here today." Zuko said, hopping off the ostrich-horse and stooping by the small pond.

A small meadow just to the side of the path, with a tiny pond at the far end of it, and trees all around. Pretty much the perfect place to stop for the day.

"It's still light out." Booner said quietly, speaking for the first time all day.

"I know." Zuko replies, grabbing his pack and pulling out the basket with the herbs.

". . . normally we keep moving until the sun sets." he followed up, confusion in his voice.

"I. Know." Zuko repeats, pulling out a small pot and filling it with water. "But Healer Malla said we needed to clean your . . . wound, and replace the bandages at least once every two days."

The kid remained silent, which suited Zuko just fine. He cleared a circle of earth next to the pond, then set up the kindling he'd brought along. "I'm going to get some wood." he says gruffly, standing and walking towards the woods.

By the time he got back with an armload of branches, Booner had climbed off the ostrich-horses back and was crouched by the water. Some turtle-ducks were swimming in the pond, and Booner was currently petting at a mother and her brood of turtle-ducklings.

Setting the wood aside, he slowly came closer and crouched next to the kid. Booner was just picking up a turtle-duckling when Zuko decided to say, "My mom used to keep turtle-ducks."

"Turtle-what?" Booner replied, startled. He fumbled and dropped the baby back into the pond. It went under the surface, coming up peeping in alarm, but none the worse for wear. The mother quacked angrily and swam forward, snapping her beak over the kids fingers. "LET GO!" Booner cried out, startled and pushing at the mad little reptile-bird.

Zuko couldn't help a chuckle, and reached out to help the boy loosen the turtle-ducks grip. "You never heard of turtle-ducks?" he asked, dubious.

Booner shook his hand and shrugged. "Didn't have 'em around." he replies, shaking off his hand. The kid seems to glance at Zuko. "Your mom kept them?"

"Yeah, she did." Zuko replied stiffly, standing and moving back to his prepared firepit, arranging the sticks he'd brought. "A long time ago." he winces slightly, then quickly lights the fire with his bending, glancing at the kid to detect any signs of surprise.

Booner just remained by the water, cautiously reaching out to the turtle-ducks, that had already retreated from the bank except for one brave duckling or two.

Setting the pot of water up over the fire, Zuko pulled out a clean roll of bandages and the herbal mixture healer Malla had given him. He reached back into memory and recalled her instruction on how to dress the wounds.

" _Be gentle,_ " he recalled her saying. " _It's many smaller wounds, and all need to get cleaned, especially the eyes, which are most delicate. There might be some bleeding still, but the biggest concern is keeping any infections at bay._ "

". . .you mentioned an uncle?" the kid suddenly asked, gently petting a turtle-duckling. "At Healer Malla's clinic. You and him are refugees?"

"Yes." Zuko replied, tugging him closer. "Hold still. I need to clean your eyes."

". . .why isn't he with you now? And are you really Fire Nation colonials?" Booner continued, wincing as the bandages were slowly taken off.

"Yes, we're from the colonies." Zuko answered. "I chose to go my own way." He carefully pulled away the last of the bandages, setting them aside for now as he took the kids chin and lifted his face towards the light, eyeing the wounds.

He really had been cut up pretty badly, but it was healing. Slowly. Booner blinked his eyes open a little, but immediately winced at the action. ". . .do you think your uncle would like me?" the kid asked tentatively.

"Uncle takes a liking to nearly anyone. Hold still." Zuko replied gruffly. Scooping up a bit of the healing goop on his fingertips, he carefully started dabbing it onto the wounds. Booner winced and squirmed, but didn't protest the action. He finally stopped and carefully inspected his work. Nodding to himself, he took the bandages and rinsed them in the pond, then put them in the bubbling pot of water.

". . . .Healer Malla said the Fire Nation hurt you. But . . ." the kid hesitated a long moment. " . . .why would they hurt their own?"

Zuko eyed the kid, but said nothing for a long moment. "Because I was a disgrace. Weak." He finally said.

". . .you don't seem weak." Booner offered hesitantly, reaching up to feel at his eyes.

"Stop that." Zuko replied gruffly, grabbing his hands. "Don't touch your eyes, you might make them worse." Catching sight of something, he tugged the boys hand closer.

"I mean it." Booner insisted. "You're stronger than others I've met. . . . what're you doing?"

"Your hands. . ." There were some small, faint burn scars on the kids hands, as if he'd grabbed a hot piece of metal, perhaps.

"I helped in a bakery. With the fires." Booner replies quickly. "And I really mean it. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"I lost my honor. I refused to fight. . .I'm not strong." Zuko bit back angrily. The fire flared higher, and he struggled to calm down and reign in his temper. "You're just an Earth Kingdom boy. You wouldn't understand."

Booner remained quiet a long minute. "Then help me understand." he held out his hands, palms facing upwards. "You're Fire Nation, but you helped me. That means there's others that are nice, like you. And your uncle."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't just walk up to a Fire Nation soldier and ask for help." Zuko replied angrily, thinking of his sister.

"There's good and bad people everywhere in the four nations." Booner countered. "There's mean earthbenders, too."

"Yeah, like there are any _nice_ firebenders?" Zuko snapped.

"I dunno, I haven't met one yet." Booner crossed his arms and pouted. "Just like, at some point in time, there had to be Air Nomads who fought in battles. Nothing's all the same thing. There's little differences everywhere that makes a huge difference, in the end."

". . .this is starting to sound like stuff the Avatar would say." Zuko grumbled, pulling the pot of water and bandages off the fire.

". . . and what's wrong with that?"

". . . .nothing." Zuko sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off a headache. "Nothing at all."

Booner said nothing, startling when Zuko tugged him a little closer and sat him down. He hesitated, considering waving a hand in front of the kids face to test his reaction, but thought better of it, instead wrapping the bandages carefully over the kids eyes.

"There, done." Zuko said gruffly, tucking the medical supplies away and standing. "I'm gonna see if there's anything to eat." he stalked off towards the trees.

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Traveling had changed significantly since taking in the young earthbender, hardly a week ago.

 _At least he's smart enough not to try bending while blind._ Zuko thought wryly, glancing at Booner as he worked on gathering firewood. The kid was sitting next to their ostrich-horse, petting it. _Then again, maybe I should get him to try a_ little _. The longer he holds it back . ._ . the exiled prince didn't want to follow that train of thought any farther.

Arranging the kindling, Zuko quickly and cautiously set it alight with firebending, adding on more and bigger sticks as the fire grew and ate up the fuel greedily. "I need to get more firewood. Stay here." he ordered.

Booner shrugged, turning his head as if he were glancing towards the fire, then away. Zuko turned and started to move away from camp when he heard a quiet, "I'll keep an eye on the fire, then." he paused and looked back. Booner seemed to be eyeing the flames, which was impossible. The bandages were still wrapped around his eyes. Besides that, Healer Malla had pulled him aside before they left and informed him that it was unlikely _his brother_ would ever see again.

He brushed it off and kept moving, collecting as many large branches as he could find. When he returned, Booner was prodding at the fire with a twig, hands inches from the flames, somehow tolerating the heat and avoiding getting burned.

"What are you doing?!" Zuko demanded, hurrying closer.

The kid flinched and fumbled the twig, dropping it in the fire.

"You could've set the whole forest ablaze!" Zuko barked angrily. _How could this kid be so stupid?_

"Yeah, right." the kid muttered.

Zuko tossed the firewood to the side. "You know what, I have had it!" he shouted. "You hardly ever talk, and when you do, you act like a smart-aleck! All you do is take up supplies that I need for my journey! _You don't do anything to help at all_!" he huffed for breath, hands balled into fists. The fire had blazed hotter and higher, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care.

Booner flinched, lips trembling. Then he pressed them into a thin line, and stood, taking an earthbenders stance. "Do you think that I _wanted_ to come along with you?" he snapped, rage tinging his voice. "You're no great prize yourself! You ignore me unless you're telling me to stay put. Tch! As if I can even get anywhere you couldn't find me!"

"What is that even supposed to mean? If you had wanted, you could've stayed with that healer woman for all I cared!" Zuko shot back.

"I'm _blind_! How hard is that to comprehend?!" Booner bit back defensively, "I wouldn't be able to run more than five steps in any direction without tripping, slamming into a tree, or burning myself in the fire! You wouldn't even have to do anything other than wait until I hurt myself, then drag me back!"

Zuko barely hesitated. "You tracked me across hours worth of grassland! You were _hunting me down_!"

"I WAS NOT!" Booner screamed back at him. The fire flickered and flared. "Earthbenders were throwing their weight around and beating me up! Again! And then I sense you there and they _stopped_!" he sniffled softly, but held his stance. "No one else has ever helped me! I guess I was wrong, though." he turned his back, stumbling away from camp quickly, hands held in front of himself.

"Where the heck are you going?!" Zuko snaps at him.

"Away from _you_! Since, _obviously_ , you don't care what happens to me and never _wanted me around anyway_!" Booner shouted back, breaking into a run.

Zuko growled under his breath and stalked over to the fire, sitting next to it as he listened to the sound of the kid storming off grow fainter and finally vanish altogether. Taking deep breaths, he slowly grew calm again.

 _I'd never seen that kid before he just -_ appeared _at my campsite!_

 _. . . .after I saved Li and used firebending against those earthbenders in the village._

Those same jerks that took Li were beating up Booner? Okay, he could see them doing that. But no one was helping the kid? Zuko must've drawn whoever was hurting the kid off when he arrived and demanded they let Li go. The kid _did_ have a fever at the time, so he could've seen it as Zuko saving him. All plausible . . . as long as you forgot that that the kid was blind at the time.

 _He said that he sensed me . . . but how?_

Zuko knew about the Inner Flame. All firebenders had it, could sense it within other firebenders, if trained. Booner was an earthbender, though. So it couldn't be that.

 _The fire had reacted to Booner's anger . . . ._

 _"I helped in a bakery. With the fires."_

No. No _way_. No way that kid was a firebender. And yet . . . it was the only thing that made sense in any of this. No matter how Zuko added it up in his head, the kid being a firebender was the only one that made sense.

"I just set an angry firebender kid loose in the forest. Not good." Standing, Zuko followed the kids trail through the trees.

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The sun was setting. Booner had always been able to track the suns progress through the sky. Even with his vision gone, and the warmth blocked by trees and probably hills farther off, he could feel the suns power slipping away.

He didn't care, though. He. **Didn't**. **CARE**.

 _Earthbenders don't need the sun!_ he thought savagely, shifting through his katas over and over again, smothering the warmth in his belly and making sure no flames left his hands as he shifted through the motions of one earthbending kata, then going into the next with hardly a pause for breath or thought.

He went from one to another, losing count of how many he'd done or how long he'd been going at it. He just kept moving over smooth stone and rough gravel and soft grass by the river he'd found, moving through the open space between water and trees that he'd marked out as he paced. Practiced until his rage was numbed, everything was numbed except his katas and determination to memorize and perfect them.

He ran through another set of katas that he'd had trouble with in the past. Something to do with getting a certain motion right. He couldn't really remember.

"BOONER!"

"Huh-?!"

 _SPLASH_

Sitting up from where he'd tripped into the river, Booner sputtered and listened carefully. Finally, he stood. Walking to where he estimated was the center of his practice-space, he started up his katas again. _At least I won't spout flames by mistake now . . . ._

"Booner!"

It was Lee. Of _course_ it was Lee. Booner kept going through his katas, shivering. "I'm practicing here."

"It's getting dark out. And . . . Why are you soaking wet?" was that . . . concern? _And_ why _would he care about me?_

"I got distracted and tripped." he snapped back, feeling heat creep into his hands. He held back flames, but thought he'd released a bit of heat. Hopefully, if it was as dark as Lee said it was, he wouldn't see any heat shimmering in the air. Fire flickered in his belly, begging to be released, and he buried it in earth, and calm.

". . .I'm, sorry, about what I said earlier." Lee started awkwardly.

Booner hesitated, but remained silent, looking in the direction of his voice. Finally nodding and shrugging, he wrapped arms around himself, shivering a little. He heard Lee sigh, his footsteps as he came nearer.

When the teen was close enough to reach out and touch, he slowly offered a hand. Lee took it and lightly tugged him away from the river, guiding him through the trees. There was a flicker of heat about Lee, but external; like holding a torch. The fire was _there_ , full of energy, but without anything to burn. He didn't think so, at least . . . .but how did he know, anyway? What was Lee _doing_?

"What are you doing?" he asked at last.

Lee was silent a long time as they traveled through the trees. "How do you view the four nations?" Lee finally asked.

Booner frowned, but organized his thoughts. "The Water Tribes live at the North and South Poles, and have been waiting out most of the war. The Air Nomads lived high up on mountains, and were peaceful. The Fire Nation lives to the west, proud and fierce. The Earth Kingdom is most of the world, the people diverse, and stubborn."

"That's where they live, and how they are, but what do _you_ think of them?" Lee reiterated.

". . . I don't know." he answered honestly. "All I ever heard about them were from my parents."

Lee remained silent until they got back to camp. Pushing him closer to the campfire, now mostly embers, presumably to warm up. Crackling and snaps, as branches were added on, and the fire built back up again.

"I'm Fire Nation." Lee finally said.

Booner swung his head towards him. "You're a colonial." he replied, puzzled.

"I'm not. It was the best story I could stick to, especially with you coming with me on my journey." Lee admitted.

". . . .why are you telling me this?" Booner asks slowly, trying to fit the pieces together.

"Because I'm not just Fire Nation. I'm a firebender." the words rang through the quiet night air.

A firebender. A. Firebender. He'd been traveling with a. . . with . . . _Okay, stop,_ slow down _._ he ordered himself. _One step at a time. Urgh, this makes my head hurt._

Lee must've seen something in his face, because he took his wrist and held his hand closer to the flame that suddenly blazed to life, cupped in the teens hand. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

Booner barely hesitated to reply, "Yes, of course I do." And then, warmth hovering above his palm. It flickered, and danced, pulsing like a little heartbeat. A tightness about his chest, a suppressing, choking weight that had been settling bit by bit in layers over the days, finally lifted. The fire in his belly perked and leapt up, pushing aside some dirt that had choked it.

He allowed himself a small smile.

"So you are a firebender." Lee said quietly, quiet shock and underlying warmth to his voice.

Booner felt his smile drop, hard. He tensed, then put the flame out with a flick of his wrist and clench of his hand. He sensed, more than felt Lee tense and flinch. Deliberately, he held his breath and shoved dirt over the fire in his belly, smothering it and pushing it back, back and _away_ \- !?


	4. Student and Teacher

_He allowed himself a small smile. "So you are a firebender." Lee said quietly, quiet shock and underlying warmth to his voice._

 _Booner felt his smile drop, hard. He tensed, then put the flame out with a flick of his wrist and clench of his hand. He sensed, more than felt Lee tense and flinch. Deliberately, he held his breath and shoved dirt over the fire in his belly, smothering it and pushing it back, back and **away** \- !?_

* * *

Zuko watched the kid, wide eyed, before forcing himself to relax. He thought, for a moment, that Booner was trying to flick the flame back at him. But no - he was only putting it out. And now he was edging away, turning his back on the campfire.

". . . .I never asked to be one." Booner mutters, hugging himself.

Quickly running this new information through his head, Zuko quickly realized, "Have . . . have you been pushing back your element?" he finally asks. It all added up; sticking to the shade whenever he could, shying away from the fire . . . for just a moment, the kid looked genuinely happy as he held the flame, before his expression had closed off and he snuffed it out.

The kid hesitates, then nods reluctantly.

Zuko shakes his head in disbelief, worry welling up inside. "Booner, you can't just . . . . _not_ bend." he finally says.

Booner turned his head his way, expression angry and defiant. "Why not? It's worked out so far." he snaps out. The campfire flares higher before dropping low, very low, almost smothering itself as the kid turned away.

"Benders can't just suppress their element and turn away from it. It kills us, eventually. You're hurting yourself. It's . . . ." he struggled to think of what to say next.

A hitching breath, and Booner turns away, hands clenched. "It's kept me from hurting anyone else." he says firmly.

"It's like denying a part of yourself." Zuko replies. "Any bender that locks up their element is denying apart of who they are. It hurts them . . ." reaching out, he lightly touched Booners shoulder.

The kid turned slowly, rubbing a hand across his bandaged eyes, trembling from suppressed sobs. Slowly, Zuko pulled the child closer in a hug. Letting out little hiccuping breaths, Booner hugged him tightly.

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"Kid. Booner, wake up." Zuko nudged the sleeping boy.

Yawning, the kid sat up, turning his head Zuko's way. "Yeah, Lee?" realization struck his features. "You're a firebender!"

Zuko flinched despite himself. "Yes, I am." he agreed. "Come'on, get up. I need to check on your eyes."

The boy hesitated, but nodded. "You're a _firebender_." the kid repeated, not afraid or angry, like Zuko would've expected, but more awed. "Why aren't you fighting in the war?"

 _Why is this kid so damn curious?_ Zuko felt the thought flash through his mind as he heated water to clean the wound. "Do you _want_ me to be fighting in the war?"

"I didn't say that. It's just . . . my dad always said all the firebenders were fighting and not all the earthbenders were in the war." Booner tilted his head slightly.

"I doubt that all the firebenders in the Fire Nation are out there on the battlefield." Zuko replied, gently pulling the boy closer. "Hold still." he started to take the bandages off.

"Could you teach me?" The kid asked, wincing as bandages were pulled away, Zuko shifting his face towards the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

"To control your bending, or fight?" Zuko asked dryly, turning to pull out the healing goop. There was enough for a couple more treatments. Then he'd have to find another healer. Or maybe try to find the herbs to make it himself? _Only if I have too._ he thought, recalling how Uncle mistook a poisonous flower for tea.

"Control my bending." the kid replied firmly, cautiously opening his eyes before wincing them shut again.

"Hold still." He gently held the kids chin and applied the medicine, taking the idea of being a teacher, prodding it from all angles. "Might be tricky to do as we ride, but we'll figure something out." he finally grunted, putting a pot of hot water and bandages over his little fire to heat up.

The kid was grinning at him. Or, in his general direction.

 _Oh boy._ Zuko thought, rolling his eyes. _Let's hope this doesn't end in smoke and ash._

"Hold out your hands," he ordered, continuing when Booner did so. "Palms facing the fire. Put your energy into the fire, then collapse it in on itself to put it out." he sighed when the kid thrust his hands out, then drew them back quickly with his fingers clenched.

"You're not trying to grab it like a net and wrench it back to yourself. . . . you said before that you could sense me?" he asked the boy.

Booner nodded, frowning, brows furrowed as he thought.

Reaching out to the fire, Zuko put some of his own energy into it. Not to pull at it, or put it out. Merely put his energy into it, fueling it; and ready to use it. "Try reaching out to the fire now. Don't try to move it. Just try to _sense_ it. Like you did with me."

The kid nodded again, and almost immediately suppressed a grin. "I can feel it now . . . well, better than before, anyway." he said tentatively.

With a nod, Zuko held out his hands. "Now, I want you to try and sense my movements versus how the fire is moving." At the kids nod, Zuko reached out to the fire, made it flare and flatten with a few movements of his hands; then, drawing one hand back, he tightened his fist, extinguishing the flames. "Learning to put fires _out_ is one of the first things all young firebenders learn. You need to know, in case something happens."

Relighting the embers and charred wood, he gestured towards it. "Now you try."

Booner nodded, and carefully reached out to the flames with one hand, palm first. Pulling back some, testing how the flames flickered and drew towards him, he turned his hand palm-up, and carefully sparked a small flame in his hand. Before Zuko could stop him or fully figure out what he intended to do, Booner yanked the flame-holding hand and snuffed it out by bringing his other hand in a fist down onto it.

The campfire went out nearly as quick. The kid turned towards him hopefully, and tentatively.

Zuko nodded, eyeing the dying embers. "Not bad, kid. It certainly works."

The kid practically beamed, caution cast aside in favor of turning towards where the campfire had once existed.

"I didn't think you'd take to fire so quickly, though." the prince admitted.

"I helped in the bakery with my siblings." Booner replied simply, and honestly. "I had a knack for getting the fires built up quickly, and keeping them at the right temperature to bake what we needed for the day." he shrugged. "Ever since I was little, I . . . was always attracted to flames."

Zuko raised an eyebrow at the hesitation, and quiet shyness the kid had suddenly descended into after being much more upbeat. It had a ring of truth to it, but the kid had evaded there. "So you would practice alone?" he asked gruffly.

Booner nodded. "I don't get why people hate fire so much. It's not just destruction or death!" he held out both hands, and ignited a tiny flame. It flickered and pulsed in his grasp.

"Yeah? Well, the whole world fears the Fire Nation, and they have good reason to." Zuko replied grumpily. "What do you think they rain down on people when they invade? Sunshine and cake?" he asked sarcastically.

Booner opened blind eyes to glare in Zuko's direction. They were dark amber-ish in color, scratched up terribly, and didn't - _couldn't_ \- meet Zuko's eyes. "Fire isn't death. It's life!" the little fire in his palm flickered brighter, larger, as if to prove his point. "It's the will to live, and fight, and defend those you care for."

Zuko remained silent for several long moments. The kid did not relent in his glare. If anything, it intensified. "In the Fire Nation, everyone is taught that fire is death, destruction, and rage." he said at last. "That it cannot be anything else, and if there IS anything else . . . well, I suspect that Fire Lords past would have such people called traitors, and have them hunted down."

Booner glared in his direction a moment longer, then sighed and put his fire out with a flick of both wrists. "If it's rage, then it's a defensive rage." he relented. "To rage against those that have harmed your loved ones, or threatened them . . ." he slumped, then perked up. "The Fire Lord doesn't rule here." he said, as if just realizing something.

"Uh, yeah. We're in the Earth Kingdom." Zuko replied dryly, a little taken aback at the sudden change in subject.

"He doesn't rule here. . . . which means all his laws, and his word, means nothing." Booner slowly grinned at him.

"I was given orders." he replied sharply, sensing the direction this was headed. "And therefore, I have to follow them. I am still loyal to the Fire Nation."

Booner shrugged, muttering something about "Just an idea." before quieting.

Zuko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Stubborn as earth, persistent as fire._ he thought grumpily, going back to heating water and re-bandaging the kids eyes. _Hope I can hammer some Fire Nation customs and laws into his head._

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Sighing silently, Booner waited for Zuko to climb onto their mount before urging the ostrich-horse forward. "Why do you have to catch this person again?" he asked, thinking over Lee's stumbling explanation from earlier that morning.

"To reclaim my honor. So I can return home." Lee replied tersely.

". . . .how did the Fire Nation hurt you? Healer Malla saw a scar, I'm guessing . . ." he began, but trailed off, feeling Lee tense.

"In an Agni Kai. A fire duel." he shifted slightly. Booner could sense him turn just enough to glance behind them. "I disrespected the Fire Lord. And when I refused to fight, having not known who it was beforehand . . . he said I shamed the whole Fire Nation and that my refusal to fight was terrible weakness." Pain, and anger, and determination riding on these words.

"And he said you had to catch this one guy," Booner guessed cautiously. "To reclaim your honor, and return home."

He sensed, more than felt, Lee's nod in the following silence.

"Agni Kai's sound really dangerous. _To the death_ dangerous." he guessed, treading carefully. Another nod. "Then it makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Lee snapped.

"That you wouldn't fight your Lord." Booner replied. "What if things went wrong? Very wrong, and you hurt him badly? Or even killed him? Wouldn't the rest of the Fire Nation hate you then? Or at least the Fire Lords family?"

Silence. Booner kept his mouth shut, trying to puzzle out where he'd misstepped. Maybe it was simply one of those things in the Fire Nation that he wasn't aware of yet. Pointing towards someones defeat and saying that _it was okay_.


	5. Blind Amber

Running. Running, over hard-packed earth, then stone, then withered tufts of grass. A stick held out, feeling the faint resistance and soft _fwapp_ , _fwapp_ over the roar of blood in his ears as it hit the edges and corners of old buildings he passed. Booner could already taste smoke in the air. Counting silently under his breath until he thought he was roughly right about the number.

 _About fifteen houses down, then start looking for a way in._

He started feeling along the wall for a door, or busted window perhaps. Finding a door, he reached around for the handle, but it wouldn't budge for all his tugging. Stick held out again, he ran for the next house. This one yielded to him, and he slipped inside.

He could taste dust in the air. The floor was wooden, flimsy and weak with rot. Carefully poking around that first room, and running into nothing with feet, hands, or stick, he moved on to the next room. He found a set of stairs, that he decided against climbing - after the first step broke underfoot and stuck splinters into him - and next found the doorway to what he assumed was once a broom or coat closet. It was empty save for some small skeleton, like a rat-mouse, he guessed.

The last room was much bigger than the others. He found windows, but they were boarded up from the inside. The door was hanging slightly ajar, but he didn't think that would matter to much, either. The rest of the room was practically barren. The floor was more uneven dirt than wood, and the wood broke easily underfoot if he wasn't careful.

He chose a little secluded corner along the front wall, then carefully walked from it to the street-door. Retracing his steps, Booner then walked from the corner to the door that lead to the adjacent rooms. He tried to ignore the shouting outside, recalling earlier instructions.

 _Find any exits, and make sure that at least two are easy to access from your hiding spot._

He'd just made it back into the corner when the sounds of combat grew closer, a loud _fwoosh_ of air and flame. He flattened himself to the ground, sensing heat and flame high above him.

The house was groaning. Creaking, moaning, cracking as the fire sought out weak points and chewed on them.

It felt spooky, and lonesome. The little ghost house was dying.

And, huddled on the ground, terrified, Booner remembered Lee's quick, quiet promises.

 _I'll come back for you when the worst is over._

Fire crept in the roof of the building, gnawing at the rafters slowly. The fire in his belly longed to reach out to it. He wouldn't let it, and it ached.

 _Just run, and hide. I'll find you._

Stalking down, penetrating the walls, reaching out to him. He held fast, pushing his face partially into the ground, and his shirt collar, trying not to breathe in smoke.

 _Someone else is trying to catch the person I'm after. She's dangerous, and clever, and won't expect me to have a child tagging along._

Creeping closer, taunting him, daring him to bend the flames away. He couldn't; he wouldn't! He had to try. He had to _wait_.

 _She's my sister, and if she thought that we knew eachother, she would hurt or threaten you, to get at me._

Coming closer, the blistering heat making it hard to breathe, fire near enough to burn. Smoke stinging his nose, burning his lungs.

 _Azula has a knack for finding what you love the most, and_ **taking it away** _._

Thrusting out a fist to force the flames back; an earthbenders move, to deflect oncoming rocks. It worked; fire surged back, and away, giving him more time.

 _I'll find you when the worst is over._

Smoke still curled around him, but he could breathe easier without the heat so close.

 _I_ **will** _find you. Promise. Just_ **stay alive** _._

He could only guess at what he could sense, not too far off, battling in the streets of the abandoned town. He knew Lee's Inner Fire, as the firebender had called it. He could only guess at who the other two were.

One was powerful, experienced, and on the defensive. The other . . . he shivered to think about it, or even reach out towards it to mark its proximity to his hiding place. The other fire didn't feel warm at all. It was cold, cruel, and calculating. So cold, that when you touched it, it burned fiercely.

He could hear the voices over the crackling flames. It wasn't just Lee, or two other firebenders. There were a few others. He couldn't be sure how many, though.

A cold, spine-chilling crackle. A scream of pain, shouting, pounding footsteps. The freezing firebender had vanished, the other one felt wounded, and Lee. . . Lee's fire was lashing out, angry and scared.

"Hold on, there's someone in here!" he heard someone call. He huddled back into his corner, hearing footsteps as someone entered the burning building. "Hey, kid! This whole place is burning to the ground! Come on!"

Booner shook his head, crying out as earth shifted and moved beneath him. He cringed as the person, he judged a girl around his age by the voice, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out.

"This isn't the time for hesitating around strangers! We're trying to help!" another voice, male, and older than him.

Booner said nothing in protest, confused and frightened. Even more so when he found himself being hauled up onto something soft, tall, and _warm_ -?!

"It's okay, just calm down." a female voice soothed, helping him climb off of soft fur and into something that felt almost . . . leathery. "You're safe now."

"Yip yip!" another boy, but younger; he couldn't be much older than Booner was. Air swished past him, and then they were _moving through the sky_.

He gasped and flattened himself to what he guessed was a saddle. There was a chirrup, and something small and soft nudged at his face, tiny hands grabbing at his hair. He reached up and felt at the creature now sitting on his head. Cautiously, he picked it up with one hand and rolled onto his back.

He bumped into someone, which turned out to be the first girl. "Hey, watch it!" she snapped.

"Toph, leave the kid be. He's probably still pretty scared from being a in burning building and later being kidnapped." the older guy cut in.

"Sokka!" the elder girl snapped at him.

"Hey, I'm just saying, Katara. We did kinda drag him out of the village." Sokka replied.

"Well, yeah, but there was no one else there other than Crazy Blue Fire-Lady, Zuko, and that one older guy." the other boy threw in. There was a rumbling bellow in that direction. "Don't worry, Appa, we'll land soon. Promise."

"See? Aang's backing me up!" Sokka exclaimed.

". . . .you all sound like kids." Booner mumbled. The little creature now sitting on his chest chittered. Petting it, he could feel large ears and an odd membrane on it's forelegs.

He did his best to ignore and block out what followed shortly afterwards. He assumed that the gigantic furry monster they were on landed. The other four teens who essentially kidnapped him yawned and curled up in the saddle, drifting off to sleep on either side of him. Leaving him awake, and alone with his thoughts.

 _They didn't see Lee . . . oh no . . ._

 _"She finds what you love the most, and **takes it away**."_

No, no, it couldn't be true! She didn't know he was there, nor that Lee was the one person he cared the most for now. _I have to believe he's alive. I_ **have** _to._

 **_[(-)]_** **.n.n'U'n.n.** **_[(-)]_** **.n.n'U'n.n.** **_[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_**

He didn't know how long he'd slept. But when he was nudged awake by a gentle hand, he desperately hoped that the events of yesterday were a dream. A very horrible, scary dream; but still a dream.

"Come on, wake up." a kindly girls voice.

Booners' heart leapt a moment, before realization crashed down. That wasn't his sister. His sister was gone. He'd never see her again.

And he was separated from Lee.

"Is he still asleep?" asked another. Boy, older, but not Lee. Someone else.

 _Just work with it . . ._ he thought to himself. _Just figure out where you are, and where they keep their food. Then you can get out of here._

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Katara turned towards Aang a moment, then back to the little boy. As far as she could tell, he had black hair and was wearing earth-kingdom green. But it was hidden under a patchwork layer of gray ash and black soot. Despite how dirty the kid was, Momo was perching comfortably on his back.

"Come on, wake up. We need to get you cleaned up." she tried, making her voice cheerful.

The kid finally pushed himself upright, knocking Momo off, who scolded and chittered. The kid smiled slightly and reached around for the lemur. "Sorry, buddy." he said quietly, hopefully.

Momo considered his grimy hands for a moment before jumping into his lap and nuzzling his chest with a chirp, earning a soft laugh from the boy.

"That's Momo." Aang jumped next to the boy, grinning. "He seems to like you already! I'm Aang." the airbender stuck his hand out to shake.

The boy started and turned towards him, Momo being hugged closer. ". . . .I'm Booner." he finally said, slowly putting his hand out.

Aang took it and shook it a little too enthusiastically, and looked down at it when the kid drew back. "Man, that's a lot of ash."

"Which is why I'm taking him down to the river to get cleaned up while you practice with Toph." Katara interjected, gently taking Booner's hand and pulling the boy up to his feet.

Booner seemed to wince, but nodded. Momo seemed content to be held against the boys chest. "Alright . . ."

It took a little doing, but she helped him climb down from Appa's saddle, and then lead him towards the river. Booner was tentative at first, but walked out into the water with her.

Pulling up a ball of water, Katara streamed it out and splashed it gently over the boy. The child flinched and yelped, coughing as the she diverted the water away, carrying away most of the ash and soot. Momo scolded, pulling himself free from Booners' grasp and gliding back to shore.

"Sorry, I'll make sure to warn you next time." Katara promised.

The boy seemed to stare at her from underneath dripping black bangs. "That was _you_?!" he yelped out, shocked.

Katara frowned. "I'm a waterbender." she replied, drawing up an orb of river-water and streaming it out in front of her. "See? It's called streaming the water."

The boy frowned, and shrugged. Katara let the water drop with a soft scowl, and the boy flinched when the small wave smacked into his legs.

Katara frowned then, and moved forward to take the boys hand. "Come on, let's get you dried off." he didn't resist as they walked back towards shore. She coaxed the water out of his clothes bit by bit, but he merely shook out his hair and tried to keep his distance when she tried to dry him off further. She decided to give him his space; he was probably startled still by her bending. It would pass soon.

When they returned to camp, Sokka was eating his share of breakfast. Momo flew overhead and alit on the boys shoulder, startling him before he smiled softly and pet the lemur.

"So, Booner," Sokka began, holding out a grilled fish for the boy to take. "What were you doing in that ghost-town anyway?"

The kid was already digging into the offered food like a starving raven-fox, but paused and looked up at them. ". . . . waiting for my brother. He told me to hide, since we had to get through and there was fighting going on." he finally replied. He tore off a bit of fish in his teeth, then offered it to Momo. The lemur sniffed it and screeched, scrambling on top of the boys head. The boy laughed softly and shrugged.

"Why didn't you just wait for the fighting to stop? Or better yet, turn around and leave?" Katara prodded with a frown.

The kid shifted slightly, chewing slowly as he thought on that. He swallowed. ". . . .not sure." he finally said. "Me and my brother were separated for awhile, and when we met back up again, he was already on a . . . quest, you could say." a small shrug. "He told me some of it, but he didn't want anyone in town to know I was there. He didn't want me to get hurt. I'm not very strong. . . ."

Both Sokka and Katara frowned, and shared looks. Booner didn't seem to take any notice, chewing on the fish again.

"You were separated from your brother? What happened? What about your parents?" Sokka asked.

Booner looked to the side. ". . . .We lived near the sea. There was a raid, or something. My brother got away with our uncle. I got swept up by some earthbenders. They . . . . weren't very nice." he winced. "My brother found me, and I've been traveling with him ever since."

Katara reached out and drew the boy closer. "Sounds like someone needs a hug." she told him sweetly. Booner was stiff in her arms, biting his lip. She brushed some of the hair from his face, prepared to soothe him, but couldn't help a small gasp. Bandages were wrapped tightly around his eyes, stained faintly red.

"Katara? What-. . . . oh man." Sokka scooted closer, blinking in surprise at the sight.

Booner tugged away, huddling his limbs in closer.

"Sh, sh, calm down, it's alright." Katara soothed quietly, reaching out and gently touching the trembling boys arm.

Booner flinched and pulled away fearfully.

"I can help. I can heal with my bending." she tried to reassure.

He didn't seem to believe her, but nodded minutely, and followed silently after her, back to the river. He didn't complain or make a single sound as she removed the bandages and set water-gloved hands over his eyes. The water glowed, and the little cuts slowly mended, until it seemed that all the damage was gone.

Booner blinked open dark amber eyes that were masked with small, white scars. He looked one way, then another, eyes never focusing on anything.

He was blind; he would never see again.


	6. Touch of Earth

The wounds stung and burned as the bandages were removed, exposing them to the morning air. Water suddenly encased half the boys' face, stretching from nose to hairline, somehow both wet like any other water, but not wet at the same time. The stinging suddenly vaulted into a deeper, more lingering kind of ache as the water seeped into the deepest of the wounds.

It hurt so bad, and he suddenly became afraid that he would cry out. Biting his tongue hard and hiding clenched fists in his sleeves, he braced himself firmly against the onslaught. Then, just as fast as it began, it started to ease, a strange tingling thrumming it's way through the pain, neither pleasant or unpleasant. As it receded, the pain ebbed, until finally water receded from his face.

Booner gently reached up and touched his face, blinking up towards Katara, expecting the veil of darkness to vanish. Confusion filled him as the darkness remained, and he again felt where the wounds had been. The wounds were gone, as were any form of bandage, but the darkness remained unyielding, obscuring everything before him. Panic chased out confusion and hope as he struggled against the urge to claw at his eyes and remove whatever had stolen his sight.

Unfortunately, it was no use . . . despite Katara's healing abilities, she could not fix the core of his problem. He couldn't see . . . he would never see again. He felt like he was drowning once more; he cast about for any means of anchoring himself. When he had first lost his sight, he'd been further untethered by the devastating news when he awoke -

 _Bare feet pounding against the earth, shivers rattling his body and sobs wracking his chest. Pain, sharply stinging around his eyes, digging into him. . . . and his heart, filled with anguish, guilt, longing, and shattered hope, oozing from the inside out, numbing out anything and everything around him as it ached with flickering, dying flames. Gone . . . she's gone, and there's nothing I can do . . . .I can't . . . she can't be . . .it's . . . . **it's all my-!?**_

\- and he had recieved similar news from these people. But . . .

 _I am a mountain . . . ._ he gulped down a breath air, forcing himself to breathe evenly. He had no way of knowing for sure. Lee simply couldn't be dead; he was too strong, to smart. If this group hadn't see him . . . .

 _Mountains never fall . . ._ the storming sea of emotions began to settle slowly. _Lee IS alive. I . . . I can **feel** it . . ._

 _Battered and beaten, but they never fall . . . ._ he became vaguely aware of arms wrapped around him, and a quiet tune being hummed.

 _I am STRONG, I am a mountain . . . .I won't let this rattle me!_ Falling back on his mantra had helped, to some degree. Lee wasn't dead. He must've hid, or been in another part of the town. Injured or not, blind or not, Booner would find him. He had too, and he wouldn't stop searching until he'd found him again. He refused anything else to be an option.

Snapping back to the present, Booner was a more than a little surprised to realize that the waterbender had wrapped her arms around him. He tried to pull back. Emphasis on tried. She was very insistent, and very strong. He didn't feel all-to-comfortable with this. Affection from strangers was down-right foreign. He was used to his sisters genuine love, and Lee's rough worry.

"I'm alright now." he spoke up, keeping his voice level, and quiet so he wouldn't be yelling in her ear. "Just . . . a bit surprised." Understatement of the year, he sighed silently with relief when she drew back after a moment.

"Are you sure? You seemed really scared." she asked, drawing back, her hand lingering on his shoulder.

Booner oppressed the urge to push her away, saying, "Yeah, I'm fine. I've never been healed by bending, before." I didn't even know that was possible before. Mustering a slight, teasing smile, he looked in the direction of her voice. "Maybe you just look really spooky." he retorted, mock serious beneath the teasing. But . . . I can figure this out. Somehow. Healing with bending, being blind . . . I just need to find Lee.

Katara spluttered to respond, before huffing and retorting, "Oh, am I? Wooooo!" bits of water, almost like fingers, slapped gently at his clothes, tugging at his shirt and hair.

He flinched, trying to fend off the unexpected invasion of space with his hands, holding back flames and smoke by his fingertips. "Oh nooo!" he wailed with mock-fear, struggling to remain under control as he realized it wasn't a real attack. "The waterbender is trying to get me!" Spur of the moment, he scrambled to his feet and dashed back in the direction of the camp. He was moving now, at least.

Katara shouted in surprise. Her feet pounded on the earth in a steady rhythm as she tried to keep up. Despite Booners' vigilant effort to avoid running into things as he fled, he ended up half-tripping when his foot hit the edge of a dip in the ground. Reflexively, he tucked into a ball and rolled as he fell, minimizing the damage he would've recieved and getting himself covered in dust.

As it were, a scrape or two and some bruises were all he got. He pushed himself up and turned his head around. He'd lost his grasp of direction; he didn't know which way to run now.

. . . .he still needed to figure out how he was going to find the ghost-town, too. Which would be very difficult in his current state . . . . working against them wouldn't help him any here. If he wanted supplies and directions, working with them was his best bet. And to start. . . . befriending and getting to know them would be his best bet.

"Uh, Katara?" he called, sitting up more fully as he heard the waterbender approach.

"You alright, Booner?" she asked, grabbing his hand and pulling him upright.

He stumbled a little, surprised at the sudden change in height, but nodded quickly. "I'm okay." he allowed her to pull him in the direction of the campsite, before asking, "Is Sokka a waterbender, too?"

"No, he's not." A soft whap sort of sound, before her voice seemed to be directed more at him. "I'm the only Waterbender in the entire South Pole."

. . .ouch. Even without longing and sadness, it sounded like there were some bad memories around that. After a silent moment, he dared to ask, "Why? What happened?" All he could think of was something like a terrible ilness-

"It's all the Fire Nations fault!" she spat, bitter anger and hatred thrumming through her voice, her hand tightening around his. Booner couldn't help but flinch. She must've noticed, for her voice softened to kinder tones. But she couldn't fully hide her earlier emotions. Anger, hate; they rode on pain, sharp and wide and deep. It was _personal_ , then. . .

"They took away all the waterbenders." she went on more gently. "I was the first one born in fifty years."

A frown worked its way onto the boys face. Something wasn't adding up . . . "Did you have to figure everything out on your own, then?" he could relate to this; he rarely used his bending in the past, when he wasn't encouraging flames in the bakery or bending heat away from hot pans. He didn't know any proper forms. _Yet,_ a soft voice whispered to him.

He assumed she nodded, as she next said, "Aang was able to help, once we were able to practice together. Acquiring a waterbending scroll gave us some structure. But I got real training at the North Pole."

Booner looked up at her in surprise. "So you've traveled the whole world? It must've taken a long time."

A pause, and with her next words, he had to assume she'd shaken her head. He heard a faint rustling. "Only a few months."

Shock wasn't really strong enough to cover what he felt. He decided not to ask any further on it. "Is Aang from the North Pole, then?"

"No, he's from the Southern Air Temple. Didn't you see . . .I guess you wouldn't have, before." Katara replied. There was a baffled hesitance to her words, before she resolutely carried on. "Aang is the Avatar. I suppose you wouldn't have been able to see his airbending tattoos before, because of the bandages."

Booner stopped dead, eyes growing wide. He barely heard the rest of what Katara said. It was insignificant, in the wake of, _The Avatar is_ here?! _But he's just a kid!_

"Booner?" he shook himself and picked up the pace, following after the waterbender once more, mind whirling with questions.

"I'm alright." he managed. _I need answers more than ever . . . . I just need to figure out how to ask them._ He couldn't be too obvious or blatant about them. They might figure it out, and from Katara's opinion of firebenders, she'd likely drown him on the spot if she somehow found out.

 **_[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_**

Iroh watched calmly, if curious and concerned, as Zuko threw supplies back into bags, steam huffing out every other breath in his agitation. Hardly an hour ago, he had woken up since having been at the ghost town, facing down and taking a blow from Azula.

He had yet to learn why his nephew wished to return there now, and then run once more, as they had never been in the habit of returning to places they'd already been thus far. Especially considering how they'd battled there.

Finally, he stood, moved, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Nephew, I understand that our need for travel, to shake our enemies trail, is most wise. But we are still exhausted from the fight. We are safe here, and should rest."

Zuko pulled away. "You don't understand, Uncle!" Zuko snapped, smoke rising from clenched fists.

"Then help me to understand. What has worked you up so suddenly, Nephew?" _Why are you panicking, when the danger has passed?_

Silence, as Zuko kept packing their things. ". . . .I picked up a stray." he finally replied. "He was injured, so I took him to a healer. I told him to hide down in the village, so Azula wouldn't find him." he turned back to Iroh. "I-I promised to find him when the worst was over. And . . . ." his eyes strayed to Iroh's bandaged shoulder, and he looked away.

Iroh nodded a little. "In the rush to help me, you forgot. And now, you wish to find him again, and take him with us on our journey?"

Zuko nodded once. ". . . he's a firebender, Uncle. He's been rejecting his element. I only discovered this more recently, and was coaxing him into learning." He added softly, glancing down at his hands.

Brows raised, the retired general considered this. "A young firebender, so far from the colonies?" he murmured, mostly to himself.

Zuko looked back at him. "I thought he was an earthbender." a sharp sigh. "He acts a bit like one, too. The one time he blew up in my face, he stalked off and I found him near water, going through earthbending kata's as if his life depended on it."

"Hm. . . then he had at least one earthbender in his family, or one willing to teach him." Iroh mused. "Though, depending on age. . . ." he gave his nephew a look askance.

"Eleven, I think. I haven't asked him, but he looks around there." Zuko replies.

"A long time, then, to restrain his element, and his temper." Iroh muses to himself. He nods slightly, then grasps his nephew by the shoulder. "Let's go fetch him, then."

Zuko nods, expression stuck between gratitude and anxiousness.

 **_[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_**

Booner was silent as he listened to Aangs' rambling, and the others more focused trails of speech as they recounted bits and pieces of their adventures. He made no comment, his mind wandering to and fro. Periodically, he reached out to the fire, just to feel the pulsing warmth. He wanted to try moving it around, make it dance or something. It was difficult to withdraw from the feeling of being Whole and keep it from flickering out of control.

But as the sun set and the air grew colder, he began to notice something. The fire produced heat; something he could sense. And he could sense it shifting and moving around objects. The closest being the others. An idea began to form then. He'd bent heat away from objects plenty of times before, back at the bakery. And he knew from traveling with Lee, that he could sense the firebenders' movements.

But would it work with people who weren't firebenders? That was the question, but even sensing how hot and cool air shifted and flowed would be infinitely useful. He ducked his head down and grinned. He could work with this. One way or another, his bending was going to let him see again. He thought over a few ways he could practice once he'd found Lee again. He'd have to learn how to sense people who weren't firebenders, eventually, but perhaps practicing on sensing small, harmless creatures would work, as well.

"So, Ashes." Booner started at the light punch to the shoulder, jerking his head towards the voice. "You an earthbender or what?"

"W-what? No. What makes you think I am?" he nearly choked, startled by Tophs' question.

"The way you move. Grounded to the earth, barely lifting your feet, things like that."

"You can. . .tell all that just from looking. . .?" He asked slowly, tilting his head curiously.

"I'm blind, but I 'see' with earthbending. I can feel the vibrations as people move and such."

". . .that's. . . Amazing, actually."

"Heh, thanks."

Booner grinned slightly when Toph punched his shoulder again. Maybe she wasn't so bad afterall . . .she'd been training with Aang most of the day, and that set him on edge in more ways than one. Then he frowned slightly, dipping his head down in thought, once again tuning out the conversation.

Toph had been training with Aang all day long, and far as he could tell, she'd worked him into the ground. But with all the noise and slinging rocks around, he'd been on edge all day. . . It was difficult to trust the ground he walked upon, or stray too near the cavern walls.

The vibrations were a warning that rang through his head, and he was prepared to dodge or run, bracing himself for pain. At one point he walked as far as he could and went through his forms, over and over, in a desperate attempt to calm himself, and avoid stirring up the fire with his fight-or-flight on high alert.

He was long-used to feeling vibrations in the ground, usually when his older brothers or mean earthbenders were throwing their weight around. But especially since he'd been blinded, he found it easier and easier to sense other peoples footsteps. . . But why? That wasn't his element. . .right?

He'd bent fire, and heat, but he apparently moved like an earthbender, and could sense the ground beneath him, to a degree. Was it. . . Was it possible that he could possibly have an affinity for earth, as well. . .?

He decided to test it later, and was further distracted from his thoughts when he felt a nudge, food pushed into his hands. He gave a quiet thank you, he kept his silence beside the fire, attacking the offered food like a starving dillo-lion. As his belly filled, he began to feel drowsy, but he was uncertain where he was meant to sleep. . .

Trying to organize his tired thoughts, Booner simply breathed. Deep breaths, through his nose, out through his mouth, trying to calm himself. His thoughts soon looped back around; He'd been on edge all throughout the Avatar's training; a tremble of earth that should be solid, a sudden crunch of stone against stone, a quiet shifting of dirt and gravel on flat ground; anything like that made his heart race and his mind prepare for varying types of pain, and a swift retreat.

And the manner in which Toph ran training sessions, he was on edge for hours.

Heat pulsed before him, growing closer before retreating into cold again. It was the fire. He focused more on it, taking deep breaths in and out, in and out, paying closer attention to how the fire flared and retreated as he did so. _Could I bend the heat?_ Silly question, of course he could, to some degree. He'd done it at his aunt and mothers' bakery, after all; very useful for getting the trays of hot food out without hurting himself.

Better question was, could he try to . . . to "see" using his ability to sense the heat? Focusing once again on the fire, and the heat it created, he kept breathing, shifting into a more meditative pose. In, out, in, out, he felt the heat and cold come and go with the flaring of the fire.

Slowly, slowly, he started to pick out patterns; how the heated air curled over the ground, around objects. How the hot air rose and cooler air swept in to take its place. He smiled a little, despite the exhaustion weighing him down more heavily. He could work with this. He could make this work! Thinking on the possible ways to use this newfound ability as he stretched and yawned widely, a thought struck him.

He'd had and used this ability ever since Lee found him.

He'd sensed the firebender from a ways away, and from there, he'd taken it even further. From simply sensing where he was to "seeing" him bend the flames of a campfire. Everything gave off some level of heat, though . . . .

Booner grinned to himself as he curled up next to the fire. He couldn't see anymore. He'd likely never see again. At least, not with his eyes.

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In. Out. In. Out.

Zuko forced himself to breathe, struggling with the urge to set something on fire. He'd searched through the house he'd instructed him to go too. He searched the surrounding houses, too. And for nothing.

Nothing.

Booner was gone, and he didn't even know where to start looking. It didn't help that several of the buildings had been set on fire and half-burnt to the ground during the fight. He hadn't found a body anywhere, he knew the flames weren't hot enough to cremate any bones -

Stop, he told himself forcibly. Think. You showed him how to put out fires. He could've controlled any flames around him enough so he wouldn't get burned. Even then, he would've left and gone somewhere else. Wouldn't he?

Or would he have stayed put, following orders? Hoping for Zuko to come for him afterwards? To bend the flames away and rescue him?

What if he hadn't left of his own will?

Frowning, Zuko considered that thought. What if Booner had been scooped up by some other force, and taken away? Unwillingly, even? While it would definitely be wise to leave the building, even to stray from the village proper, the boy wouldn't have gone too far.

And the only people who'd been nearby was the Avatar and his allies, and - Azula.

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Booner had a newfound dislike of airbenders. Aang - or Twinkletoes, as Toph had nicknamed him - was too unpredictable. He bounced from one thing to the next with little thought, and the way he could just sneak up on him was fraying his nerves in a way that earthbenders never had before.

It didn't help that Toph could, apparently, sense every move he might make, so escaping by himself was an impossibility. However, his newfound hiding place was relatively brilliant. If a little itchy.

"ASHY, COME OUT ALREADY!"

He winced a little at Toph's shout, burrowing deeper into the fur of the enormous beast. He wasn't planning on moving anytime soon. Hiding usually worked with his brothers . . . why not a scary, blind earthbender girl?

A sudden breeze ruffled his hair and the fur around him, and a too-loud voice called out, "Found him!"

A hand grabbing his and trying to pull him down the gigantic fluffy monster he'd been hiding on. "LET GO!" the boy immediately jerked away, but he quickly lost his footing. He tumbled from the furred back and hit the ground in a sprawl of limbs and pain, the breath knocked out of him. He struggled for endless moments to inhale, exhale, ANYTHING, before finally choking down a breath and rolling onto his side.

A soft moan of pain, and he forced himself upright.

"Booner! you alright?" a gentle hand on his shoulder; it took him a moment to match the worried voice up to Katara.

He shrugged, still wheezing. Pain radiated through his chest, but it was manageable. Barely. "I-I'm okay . . ." he replies, hiding the worst of the pain from his voice.

Another brush of moving air across his face, and he couldn't help but flinch. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you lose your balance like that." Aang apologizes, landing softly nearby.

Booner shrugs, keeping his head tilted in a way that kept his bangs over his eyes. Despite the pain and wounds having left, he didn't like having them exposed. He was sure that there were scars, or that his eyes were messed up, or -

"There you are! It's time to start on those lessons, Ashy." Toph stomped over, earth pulsing with faint vibrations that made warnings ring through the blind boys head.

"Lessons? I thought you were teaching Aang how to bend earth, not Booner." Sokka points out, closer to the heat of a dying campfire.

"I watched Ashy go through a lot of earthbending forms early this morning. He has them all down-pat, and I want to see if he can actually bend."

Booner felt the blood drain from his face at this, and rooted aroudn for some excuse or explanation. Thankfully, Katara spoke up for him,

"Now, hang on, are we sure this is a good idea? Especially if it turns out he can't bend?"

"Calm down, Sugar Queen, I'm not gonna just fling a rock at his face. Even if he can bend, I can't expect him to be as strong as I am."

Booner hunched his shoulders, whining under his breath when Toph grabbed his shoulder and dragged him along, biting his lip. "Don't worry, I won't rough up either of them too much."

 _. . . .by Oma and Shu._

 **_[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_**

In. Out. In. Out.

Zuko forced himself to breathe, struggling with the urge to set something on fire. He'd searched through the house he'd instructed him to go too. He searched the surrounding houses, too. And for nothing.

Nothing.

Booner was gone, and he didn't even know where to start looking. It didn't help that several of the buildings had been set on fire and half-burnt to the ground during the fight. He hadn't found a body anywhere, he knew the flames weren't hot enough to cremate any bones -

Stop, he told himself forcibly. Think. You showed him how to put out fires. He could've controlled any flames around him enough so he wouldn't get burned. Even then, he would've left and gone somewhere else. Wouldn't he?

Or would he have stayed put, following orders? Hoping for Zuko to come for him afterwards? To bend the flames away and rescue him?

What if he hadn't left of his own will?

Frowning, Zuko considered that thought. What if Booner had been scooped up by some other force, and taken away? Unwillingly, even? While it would definitely be wise to leave the building, even to stray from the village proper, the boy wouldn't have gone too far.

And the only people who'd been nearby was the Avatar and his allies, and - Azula.

 **_[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_.n.n'U'n.n._[(-)]_**

She noticed the way his heartbeat sped up. The way every strong vibration in the eart had him shaking minutely with fear and anticipation. How at times he inched away when she and Aang were training a little rougher than she had with the younger boy, and how he planted his feet a little harder than necessary when it was his turn.

He was afraid. Earthbenders had hurt him before, hurt him badly, and he was afraid. But more than his fear, he stood his ground, willingly being pelted gently by pebbles, and attempting to deflect them back. She did it in a pattern, and the more they practiced, the more she felt it.

A faint stirring in the earth, the younger boy beginning to tap into his earthbending. It brought a grin to her face. All she had to do was figure out how to break him of his reluctance to embrace his element and push back against the rock all on his own.

She was dealing with similar issues with Aang, but she was still working out how to get him to see that there WERE no ways around, no other angles.

Ashy's issue was, she guessed, he was afraid of fighting back with his bending.

So, in an attempt to break him from this habit, she took him aside, placed some pebbles in his hand, and instructed him to fling them at her.

"For every one that doesn't meet it's mark, I'm throwing two back at you. When you manage to hit me, I'll stop."

"But. . .why? How is this going to help?"

"You can't hold back with your bending. You have to push harder than the earth resists, or whoever you're fighting will crush you into dust!"

He flinched, then nodded minutely. She stood back about five paces, and started shouting insults at him, taunting him as he began chucking rocks at him.

There was no force behind the rocks that bounced around her or at her feet, no energy possessing the stone. His emotions were in a twist, ranging from frustration and fear to hesitation and determination.

As the rocks continued to miss, she began to throw back. Not hard, of course, but enough. The first couple of blows, he held his ground, but then. . . He loosened up, and began to dodge. Narrowing her eyes, she changed her pattern, making it as random as possible, but he managed to dodge them all the same.

Finally, he had run out of rocks, and she was still throwing them. His pulse was racing; he was afraid, and in sharp gesture of his hand, the pebbles stopped dead.

Yes, Toph thought to herself, pushing against the pebbles, her grin widening as he pushed back, huffing softly.

Seeming to realize what he was doing, Booner's feet shifted, leaning forward, filled with shock and amazement.

"Didn't know I could. . . C-could. . ."

Looking around himself, he made a small, purposeful stomp, gesturing with his hands and yanking a chunk of earth up before him. Hesitating a moment, he twisted around and launched it at the cliff face with grunt. He flinched when it smashed into pieces, then turned and glanced at the ground, the small hole created, then down at his hands.

"Heh, you did it then, Ashy. Let's see if—"

A small hiccup left him, Quickly turning into sobs. Ashy curled in on himself, hugging himself tightly, his pulse fluttering with his pain and shock.

He whimpered, wiping at his eyes. Uncertain what to do, Toph walked over and patted him awkwardly on the back, and pulled him in the direction of camp.

"Come on. . . Let's go back. You've worked yourself up."

Katara was quick to take the sobbing boy into her arms, doing her best to comfort him. Ashy was greatly conflicted, taking comfort from the embrace but feeling guilty for it. That wall she could clearly pick out, but her ears told her a bit more.

". . . I was. . .th-they always. . . Just b-because. . .b-because I wasn't like them. . .th-they'd h-hurt me. . ."

"Who did, Booner?" Katara asked softly, gently wiping away his tears.

"M-my brothers. . .'nd other e-earthbenders. . .n-n-never lef' me 'lone. . .a-always h-hurting me. . .th-they. . ." He sniffled, clutching at his ribs, a ripple of pain through the earth, caused by memories and injuries. ". . .th-they blinded m-me. . .I-I-"

His reactions to her training suddenly clicked into place, and Toph felt guilt worm it's way into her gut. She hadn't known about the boys blindness, nor the cause of it. . .

Ashy whined and buried back into Katara's shirt, murmuring under his breath, shoulders shaking with his sobs. It was a long time before he had cried himself out. Exhausted, he soon fell asleep, curled up near the embers of the fire.

* * *

 **A/N:** Soooo, this was a story I'd been working on about two years ago, and recently found my old notes for. Everything except the last scene is roughly two years old, and I may work on rewriting the whole thing later. LEt me know if you're interested, and I'll continue to add to this work and rewrite it at a later date. Thanks for readin' y'all!


	7. Quick Announcement

Little announcement, I like to place peoples reviews or rather answer them and such in new chapters (a habit of mine) but while it says I have reviews, it won't let me view them. The site claims that I have no reviews at all when I click the "Reviews" button or the number.

So . . . Not sure what to do about that. Someone PM me, maybe, and help me figure out what is happening? Is it only me? Sorry to anyone who's reviewed, I really wish I could see your feedback, I'll see if I can't get this fixed.


	8. Second Announcment

Alright so, it seems the problem has fixed itself. Or something. I can see your guys' comments, which is real exciting! Kinda overwhelmed by real life at the moment, so, it may be some time before I get back to posting more, but I'll do my best! Thanks for all your support!


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